Knowledge Resources

Emotions Glossary

The scientific literature is filled with a host of technical-sounding terms. If you need some clarification as to what those terms mean, you’ve come to the right place. All of the emotion terms here are still primarily academic in nature, but in more detail to help you understand what psychologists mean when they mention a particular term. We’ve also included a reference from which each definition is based on/sourced from.

Absorption is characterized by being fully concentrated and happily engrossed in one’s work, whereby time passes quickly and one has difficulties with detaching oneself from work. Absorption is part of the experience of engagement, along with vigor and dedication.

Emotions experienced and expressed in response to the arts. Such emotions are part of the experience of psychological aesthetics, which concerns people’s feelings of pleasure in response to art. The range of aesthetic feelings extends beyond liking, preference, and pleasure, and may encompass(...)

A theory relating to affective experiences at work, emphasizing the role of work events as proximal causes of affective reactions. According to Affective Events Theory (AET), events that occur within organizational contexts/workplace settings trigger affective responses in organizational(...)

Any behavior directed toward another individual that is carried out with the proximate (immediate) intent to cause harm. In addition, the perpetrator must believe that the behavior will harm the target and that the target is motivated to avoid the behavior.

Driving behaviours that endanger or have the potential to endanger others. Three dimensions of dangerous driving include (a) intentional acts of aggression toward others, (b) negative emotions experienced while driving, and (c) risk-taking.

A personality construct of condition marked by difficulty identifying, describing and distinguishing feelings from bodily sensations; with limited imagination and an overdependence on externalization and reasoning (e.g. begin aware of sensations rather than sentiments).

The ability to depend and presume upon another’s love or bask in another’s indulgence. The sense of, or the accompanying hope for, being lovingly cared for and involves depending on and presuming another’s indulgence.

A pleasantly-valenced emotion that results from the sharing of humorous communication, eliciting positive affective experiences from targets and is associated with behavioural expressions such as smiling and laughter.

An approach-related affect that may arise from blockage of movement towards a desired goal, a reaction to a displeasing violation of what “ought” to be that motivates an impulse to aggression triggered by the unpleasant event.

(An emotion that) addresses the need for food and other material resources, and should facilitate the physical and cognitive effort needed to acquire such resources. Anticipatory enthusiasm is experienced in response to cues of imminent reward, and has also been described as “wanting.”

A theory of emotion that states that emotional experiences are experiences of the situation as interpreted by the organism. Thus, the emotions people feel, along with their interpretation of the situation, is predictable from their appraisal of the situation.

The hypothesis that emotion-specific physiological responses can be viewed as a particular case of the general psychophysiological principle of stimulus-response specificity. This principle holds that specific stimulus contexts tend to produce discrete, identifiable, and reproducible somatic(...)

Fundamental, first order emotions that are structurally and dynamically simpler (primarily due to a lack of cognitive influence) operating chiefly during early childhood (e.g. joy, fear). They develop earlier, constitute foundations for more complex or secondary emotions, emphasize survival,(...)

A general motivation system that underlies behaviour and affect. Also referred to as Behavioural Approach System. The behavioural activation system regulates appetitive motivation, is sensitive to signals of reward, nonpunishment, and escape from punishment. Activation of this system causes(...)

A general motivation system that underlies behaviour and affect. The behavioural inhibition system regulates aversive motivation, is sensitive to signals of punishment, nonreward, and novelty. Activation of this system causes the person to inhibit behaviour that may lead to negative or painful(...)

An emotion elicited based on an appraisal of stimuli as comprehensible but low on complexity. A state of relatively low arousal and dissatisfaction, which is attributed to an inadequately stimulating situation.

A theory that posits that experiences of positive emotions broaden people's momentary thought-action repertoires, which in turn serves to build their enduring personal resources, ranging from physical and intellectual resources to social and psychological resources.

A theory of emotions developed by Water Cannon and Phillip Bard that claims that autonomic feedback is not necessary for emotional feelings. Rather, feelings and physiological responses are independent components of emotion. Emotional stimuli are processed in the brain, which then separately(...)

The word catharsis comes from the Greek word katharsis, which literally translated means a cleansing or purging. According to catharsis theory, acting aggressively or even viewing aggression is an effective way to purge angry and aggressive feelings. Anger and aggressive impulses exist inside(...)

The circumplex model [of emotion] focuses on determining how traits and emotions are structurally similar, and its underlying assumption is that a relatively seamless circular ordering, or circumplex, is an economical description of the relations among traits and emotions.

Helping others in their intentional change process (i.e., achieving their dreams or aspirations or changing the way they think, feel, and act). Coaching others for their development is different than coaching others strictly for the organization’s benefit. The latter can be seen as an(...)

A model that proposes that a wide variety of unpleasant feelings and experience of negative affect can lead to the development of angry feelings and display of emotional aggression. Negative affect activates ideas, memories and expressive-motor reactions associated with anger and aggression(...)

A state of tension and preoccupation with the traumatized patients by re-experiencing the traumatic events, avoidance/numbing of reminders persistent arousal (e.g., anxiety) associated with the patient. It is a function of bearing witness to the suffering of others.

An emotion that will often be triggered by violations of the ethics of community (namely, respect, duty and/or hierarchy). An emotion characterized by short-term derogation of a target, and is likely to develop into long-term rejection, with the goal of socially excluding this other person.(...)

A kind of disorder which includes symptoms in mood, body, motivation and behavior area. The symptoms of this disorder are negative mood, loss of energy and interest, feeling of guilt, difficulty in concentration, reduction of appetite and thought of death and suicide.

An emotion directed to the attainment of some object from which pleasure or satisfaction is expected. Desire therefore has three elements critical to it: (1) an external object, (2) a feeling directed to the attainment of satisfaction from that object and (3) an internal (subjective) reward or(...)

An emotion that arises upon appraisal of the consequences of one’s decisions. Like regret, disappointment is a ‘post-decisional emotion’. Disappointment is an emotion that arises when there is a perceived gap between the factual outcome with an outcome that might have been had another state of(...)

Separate emotional states… (which) can be identified and differ not only in expression but in other important ways such as appraisal, antecedent events, behavioural responses and physiology. Discrete emotions also have to be in some way adaptive.

Revulsion at the prospect of (oral) incorporation of an offensive object. The offensive objects are contaminants; that is, if they even briefly contact an acceptable food, they tend to render that food unacceptable.

Displacement refers to altering the target of an impulse. For example, an unacceptable violent impulse toward one’s father might be transformed into a hostile attitude toward policemen or other authority figures.

Rules, norms, guidelines, and expectations that people learn to manage and modify emotional displays depending on social circumstances; the term explains how people of different cultures manage their displays of emotion, depending on context.

An emotion experienced when one’s truth judgments (propositions considered to be true) include equal degrees of belief and disbelief. One’s truth judgments is dependent on probability, credibility and plausibility of the propositions.

An indicator of a genuine smile or true enjoyment. Smiles with Duchenne’s marker (i.e., the presence of orbicularis oculi activity) have been more often associated with the experience of positive emotions (e.g., amusement) in comparison with other forms of smiling.

An experimental technique concerned with the development, recording and analysis of myoelectric signals or the electrical activity of muscle tissue. Myoelectric signals are formed by physiological variations in the state of muscle fiber membranes.

A positive emotion one experiences when witnessing a virtuous act that improves the welfare of others. Moral elevation consists of a feeling of warmth and expansion that is accompanied by admiration and affection for the person(s) who performed the exemplary behavior.

(An emotion experienced when) individuals fail to behave in accordance with socially defined scripts and roles and is defined as "the flustering caused by the perception that a flubbed (botched, fumbled) performance, a working consensus of identities, cannot, or in any event, will not, be(...)

Emotion consists of neural circuits (that are at least partially dedicated), response systems, and a feeling state/process that motivates and organizes cognition and action. Emotion also provides information to the person experiencing it, and may include antecedent cognitive appraisals and(...)

“Appropriate” emotion is nothing more or less than emotion that is correct for the situation and in correct proportion to the evoking circumstances. At the extremes
of emotional expression, there tends to be a good degree of cultural consensus both concerning which emotions (if any) are(...)

The processes by which individuals influence which emotions they have, when they have them, and how they experience and express these emotions. Emotion regulatory processes may be automatic or controlled, conscious or unconscious, and may have their effects at one or more points in the emotion(...)

The subset of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions.

Labour (that) requires one to induce or suppress feeling in order to sustain the outward countenance that produces the proper state of mind in others. Emotional labor may involve enhancing, faking, or suppressing emotions to modify the emotional expression. Generally, emotions are managed in(...)

The ability to understand your emotions, the ability to listen to others and empathize with their emotions, and the ability to express emotions productively. To be emotionally literature is to be able to handle emotions in a way that improves your personal power and improves the quality of(...)

The premise of this perspective is that, just as mood provides information to the self, emotional expressions provide information to observers, which may influence their behavior. The EASI model extends this notion by identifying two processes through which observers’ behavior may be(...)

The flustered discomfort of embarrassment that observers experience when they empathetically share in another’s experience. This embarrassment is felt even though the target’s actions do not reflect on the observer, and the observer’s social identity is not threatened.

A positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind that is characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption. Engagement refers to a persistent and pervasive affective–cognitive state that is not focused on any particular object, event, individual, or behavior.

A consciously accessible, intense positive feeling experienced by engagement in entrepreneurial activities associated with roles that are meaningful and salient to the self-identity of the entrepreneur.

An emotion experienced when one appraises another person as possessing something that one desires but lacks, or when one compares poorly with others on characteristics important to oneself. Envy involves two elements (oneself and a person to whom one compares poorly). Envy is also(...)

A form of stress associated with positive feelings and healthy bodily states. Eustress is a stress response towards stimuli/targets appraised as harmful, threatening, and challenging but within one’s confidence and/or capability

An evolutionary approach defines what emotions are in terms of how they came to exist. Emotions are modes of functioning, shaped by natural selection, that coordinate physiological, cognitive, motivational, behavioural and subjective responses in patterns that increase the ability to meet(...)

A form of cognitive-behavioural treatment for posttraumatic stress disorders in which clients relive memories of a traumatic event (i.e. imaginal exposure), and confront situations that are avoided because they trigger distressing memories and thoughts (i.e. in vivo exposure).

The act of constructing stories and personal narratives through writing that helps individuals understand their experiences and themselves. Expressive writing allows the individual to organize and remember events in a coherent fashion while integrating thoughts and feelings, resulting in a(...)

Hope in which expectations are based on (i) illusions rather than reality, (ii) unsuitable goals being pursued and (iii) poor strategies to achieve desired goals. False hope is often contrasted with hope, which is a “motivational state based on an inter-actively derived sense of successful (i)(...)

A primitive, physiological system evolved to enable rapid response to short term threat or stress either by fighting, fleeing or freezing via activation of the sympathetic nervous system, e.g. increased heart rate, blood pressure. Also known as acute stress response.

The holistic sensation that people feel when they act with total involvement. When one is in flow, he/she experiences it as a unified flowing from one moment to the next, in which he/she is in control of his actions, and in which there is little distinction between self and environment,(...)

The set of motivational changes whereby one becomes (a) decreasingly motivated to retaliate against an offending relationship partner; (b) decreasingly motivated to maintain estrangement from the offender; and (c) increasingly motivated by conciliation and goodwill for the offender, despite(...)

An interference with the occurrence of an instigated goal-response at its proper time in the behavior sequence. Frustrations are aversive events and generate aggressive inclinations only to the extent that they produce negative affect.

The hypothesis that frustrations can give rise to aggressive inclinations because they are aversive. They produce an instigation to aggression only to the extent that they are unpleasant to those affected.

A model that comprises three phases in a stress response: alarm (acute stress response, mobilized for threat), resistance (continued coping of threat) and exhaustion (failure to cope with prolonged stress).

An unpleasant emotional state associated with possible objections to his or her actions, inaction, circumstances or intentions. Guilt is distinguished from shame on the basis of specificity. Guilt concerns one particular action, in contrast to shame, which pertains to the entire self. Further,(...)

A negative (i.e. unpleasant) intergroup emotion based on the perception that out-group members are harmful to oneself, one’s group or one’s group members. Hatred stems from the appraisal that the harm is intentional and stemming from a stable evil character of out-group members, thereby(...)

An individual difference influencing the extent to which an individual is high on sensory-processing sensitivity. Highly sensitive people are often aware of subtleties in their surrounding but more easily overwhelmed when they have been out in a highly stimulating environment for too long.

An unpleasant emotion arising from the belief that one has no solution to serious life problems, often viewing suicide as the only way out of an intolerable situation. Hopelessness is often seen as a core characteristic of depression and serves as a link between depression and suicide.

An emotional state characterized by abnormal physical agitation (shuddering, tingling, screaming) which is caused by a stimuli/ being that is physically and perhaps morally threatening. The threatening stimuli/being has the property of being impure and as such, motivates the desire to avoid(...)

The tendency to interpret the intention of others as hostile when social context cues are ambiguous. People who exhibit the HAB think that ambiguous behavior of others is hostile and often directed toward them, while those who do not exhibit the HAB interpret the behavior in a nonhostile,(...)

Any event shared by an agent with another individual that is intended to be amusing to the target and the target perceives as an intentional act. Amusing communications that produce positive emotions and cognition in the individual, group, or organization.

An emotion for which a society possess an elaborate cognitive structure. One indicator of hypercognition is that the society has large number of lexical entries (or words) for that emotion. For example, if a society possess multiple words to describe anger (rage, frustration, irritation,(...)

An emotion for which society possesses little knowledge. One indicator of hypocognition is having few or no lexical entries (or words) for that emotion. For instance, if a society categorizes “feeling ill”, “troubled” and “fatigued” under the category of “sadness”, then sadness is hypocognized(...)

This system regulates cortisol secretion from the adrenal gland in response to prolonged stress through a series of activations of these three structures. Repeated activation of the HPA axis in response to chronic stress leads to its dysfunction (e.g. the resistance and exhaustion phase of the(...)

A construct characterized by evocation, motivation, and transcendence. Specifically, inspiration implies motivation, which is to say that it involves the energization and direction of behaviour; is evoked rather than initiated directly through an act of will or arising without apparent cause;(...)

One of the factors in the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) and one of the four components of transformational leadership theory (the other three being intellectual stimulation, idealized influence and individual consideration). Inspirational leadership consists of leader behaviours(...)

A motivational variable that includes both affective and cognitive as separate but interacting systems. The affective component of interest describes positive emotions accompanying engagement, whereas the cognitive component refers to perceptual and representational activities related to engagement.

The idea that when social identity is salient, group-based appraisals elicit specific emotions and action tendencies toward out-groups. That is, when group membership is salient and situations are appraised in terms of their consequences for the in-group, specific intergroup emotional(...)

A theory of emotions developed by William James and Carl Lange. The theory suggests that an emotional stimulus produces motor reactions of fleeing, and the sensory feedback of which generates emotional feelings. The James-Lange theory stands in contrast with the ‘common sense’ view of(...)

An emotion experienced when one appraises that one may lose an important relationship with a person who now prefers a different partner. Jealousy requires three elements (oneself, a partner with whom one has a relationship, and a rival to whom one fears that this relationship will be lost).(...)

A lack of affect, particularly in fear to threat or aversive situations due to bilateral removal of the amygdala and inferior temporal cortex. It is also marked by hyperorality (tendency to examine objects orally), hypersexuality & indiscriminate dietary behaviour (eating previously rejected food).

An unpleasant experience that occurs when a person’s network of social relations is deficient in some important way, either quantitatively or qualitatively. This definition shares three important qualities. First, loneliness results from deficiencies in the person’s social relations. Second,(...)

A form of meditation that involves directing one’s emotions toward warm and tender feelings in an open-hearted way. In the practice of LKM, individuals are first asked to focus on their heart region and contemplate a person for whom they already feel warm and tender feelings (e.g. their child,(...)

One of three primary, discrete, and interrelated emotion systems in the brain for mating, reproduction, and parenting (the other two being attraction and attachment). Lust (Sex drive or the libido) is characterized by a craving for sexual gratification; it is associated primarily with(...)

Expressions which are so brief that they are barely perceptible to the untrained observer. Micro displays may be fragments of squelched, neutralized, or masked display. Micro displays may also show full muscular movements associated with a macro affect display, by may be greatly reduced in(...)

The awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment.
The awareness that results from (1) self-regulation of attention so that is maintained on immediate experience, thereby allowing for(...)

A form of meditation that emphasizes detached observation from one moment to the next, of a constantly changing field of objects. This flexibility is achieved by concentrating on one primary object (commonly the successive flow of inbreaths and outbreaths), until attention is relatively(...)

A structured group programme that employs mindfulness meditation to alleviate suffering associated with physical, psychosomatic and psychiatric disorders. Partic- ipants are invited to focus with an interested, accepting and non-judgemental attitude on their pain, difficult sensations,(...)

A class of visuomotor neurons (initially identified in macaque monkey premotor cortex) that respond when a particular action is performed by an individual observed and when the same action, performed by another individual, is observed. Mirror neurons appear to form a cortical system matching(...)

The tendency for individuals to have difficulty disentangling their affective responses to two events occurring in close proximity in time and space. Consequently, individuals confuse the sources of their affective responses.
A change in core affect due to one source is mistakenly(...)

Also known as the “warrior gene”, this gene specifically produces the enzyme MAOA, which decomposes monoamine neurotransmitters (dopamine, serotonin, noradrenaline). Individuals with low levels of MAOA are more likely to react aggressively in a highly provocative situation.

The hypothesis that stimuli agreeing in affective valence with one’s mood are learned and retrieved better than stimuli of different valence.
The enhanced encoding and/or retrieval of material the affective valence of which is congruent with ongoing mood.

Susceptibility to negative affect. Individuals high on trait neuroticism, relative to those low on trait neuroticism, are more likely to have an aversive motivation system that appears to inhibit behaviour through negative affect. As such, individuals who are high on trait neuroticism are(...)

A sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past that is a predominantly positive and social emotion. Nostalgic experiences typically feature the self as a protagonist in interactions with close others or in momentous events.

A strong inclination toward an activity that people like, that they find important, and in which they invest time and energy. Obsessive passion refers to a controlled internalization of an activity in one’s identity that creates an internal pressure to engage in the activity that the person(...)

Negative generalized outcome expectancies; an individual difference reflecting the extent to which people hold generalized unfavourable expectancies for their future *Note that this definition considers optimism and pessimism to be unidimensional, although there is evidence to suggest that(...)

The negative evaluation and affect (sorrow, discomfort) that witnessing the suffering of others may elicit. Pity is experienced when the target’s suffering is a result of uncontrollable causes, independent of the locus of the cause. Further, pity involves the additional appraisal of feeling(...)

Susceptibility to positive affect. Individuals high on trait extraversion, relative to those low on trait extraversion, are more likely to have an appetitive motivation system that appears to motivate approach behaviour through positive affect. As such, individuals who are high on trait(...)

A 20-item self-report scale commonly used to assess mood, comprising of 10 positive and 10 negative state items. Items are rated on a 5 point Likert scale (1: Not at all, 5: Extremely), with higher scores indicating predominant mood.

The study and application of positively oriented human resource strengths and psychological capacities that can be measured, developed, and effectively managed for performance improvement in today’s workplace.

An umbrella term for the study of positive emotions, positive character traits, and enabling institutions. The science of positive subjective experience, positive individual traits, and positive institutions.

A potential consequence of the cognitive effort to redefine one’s beliefs (following a traumatic experience), and rebuild their assumptive world. Consequently, individuals may reexamine many aspects of their lives and recognize growth on domains such as personal strength, relationships with(...)

An anxiety disorder developed after a confrontation with a traumatic event. The core features of PTSD are the persistence of intense, distressing, and fearfully avoided reactions to reminders of the triggering event, alteration of mood and cognition, a pervasive sense of imminent threat,(...)

A technique in which a person is trained to voluntarily relax individual muscles. It induces both physiological and psychological relaxation by reducing the response to stress, reducing skeletal muscle contractions, and decreasing the sensation of pain.

An individual’s positive psychological state of development and is characterized by having confidence to take on and put in the necessary effort to success in challenging tasks, making positive attribution about succeeding now and in the future, persevering toward goals and, when necessary(...)

An emotion that arises upon appraisal of the consequences of one’s decisions. Like disappointment, regret is a ‘post-decisional emotion’. Regret is an emotion that arises when there is a perceived gap between the factual outcome with an outcome that might have been had one chosen another(...)

A feeling of compunction, or deep regret, for a sin or wrong committed. Unlike regret, remorse is felt about a sin or moral wrong whereas regret is felt about what is in some way undesirable, but not particularly so. Regret, but not remorse, can be felt about an event for which the agent does(...)

A dynamic process encompassing positive adaptation within the context of significant adversity. Implicit within this notion are two critical condition: (1) exposure to significant threat or adversity; and (2) the achievement of positive adaptation despite major assaults on the developmental process.

The physiological system that diverts resources to maintenance and growth activities. The rest-and-digest branch of the autonomic nervous system functions through activation of the parasympathetic nervous system. Because of this, the parasympathetic nervous system also referred to as the(...)

The finding that nondepressed individuals, relative to depressed individuals are less accurate in their assessments of the degree of contingency between their responses and outcomes relative to the objective degree of contingency. Nondepressed individuals overestimated the degree of(...)

Self-compassion involves being touched by and open to one’s own suffering, not avoiding or disconnecting from it, generating the desire to alleviate one’s suffering and to heal oneself with kindness. Self-compassion also involves offering nonjudgmental understanding to one’s pain, inadequacies(...)

Emotions that are evoked by self-reflection and self-evaluation. Such evaluations may be implicit or explicit, consciously experienced or transpiring beyond individual awareness. Fundamentally, self-conscious emotions involve people’s reactions to their own characteristics or behaviour.

Emotions (usually positive emotions) that arises when an individual appraises something or someone greater or better than the self. Common elicitors are displays of talent or of physical and moral beauty. Elevation, awe or admiration are considered to be prototypical self-transcendent positive(...)

An emotion that emerges when people interpret their current situation as utterly cherished, right, or satisfying. People feel serenity, for instance, when they feel comfortable, at ease in, or at one with their situation.

An emotion when one’s objectionable behaviour is seen as reflecting, more generally, a defective, objectionable self. Upon experience of this painful self-scrutiny, the individual experiences a sense of “shrinking” or of “being small” along with feelings of worthlessness and powerlessness. In(...)

A chronic and debilitating condition that is characterized by a persistent fear of interacting or performing in social situations due to concerns of embarrassment, humiliation or negative evaluation by others.

An individual difference consisting of a certain genotype, physiotype, and personality that renders and individual capable of experiencing secondary, “social” emotions that normally contribute to behavioural motivation and inhibition.

A context in which individuals have no immediate possibility of social interactions or exchanges of information and affect these entail. At the same time, solitude is a situation in which individuals are free from social constraints, demands, and expectations, allowing them to think and act(...)

The hypothesis that responses to stimuli (conscious or non-conscious; overt or covert) operate as ‘markers’ in bioregulatory processes such as in emotions and feelings. These bodily (somatic) markers have implications for human reasoning and decision-making, biasing the selection of aversive(...)

A form of guilt that is experienced when individuals believe that they are – simply by furthering their own causes – experiencing good things at the expense of others, and that their success will make others feel bad by compassion. They assume irrationally that the attainment of good things is(...)

An emotional response, stemming from the apprehension of another’s emotion state or condition, that is not the same as the other’s state or condition but consists of feelings of sorrow or concern for the other.

A theory that posits that to manage the potential for terror engendered by the awareness of mortality, humans sustain faith in worldviews which provide a sense that they are significant beings in an enduring, meaningful world rather than mere animals fated only to obliteration upon(...)

The ability of an individual to impute (attribute, assign) mental states to himself and to others (either to conspecifics or to other species as well). A system of inferences of this kind is properly viewed as a theory because such states are not directly observable, and the system can be used(...)

The idea that both personality traits and mood states convey information about the self in the world. When traits and states mismatch, epistemic uncertainty results, causing a delay when a person is asked to encode new events with reference to his or her feelings or motivations. As such, a(...)

Stress events that present extraordinary challenges to coping and adaptation; traumatic stressors includes “experiencing, witnessing, or confronting events that involve actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others.”

A theory of love which deals both with the nature of love with loves in different kinds of relationships. It is suggested that there are 3 components: (a) intimacy encompassing the feelings of closeness, connectedness, and bondedness experienced in loving relationships; (b) passion(...)

The systematic tendency to form beliefs that are biased, and often false, but have significant benefits because they increase wellbeing, contribute to mental and physical health, and support productivity and motivation.

The observation that the effects of positive emotions accumulate and compound. That is, the effects of positive emotions, broadened thinking, and positive meaning share reciprocal relations. The broadened attention and cognition triggered by positive emotions, for instance, facilitate coping(...)

Variability in heart rate at rest that is associated with respiratory patterns. Vagal tone reflect the functioning of the vagus nerve, which is the 10th cranial nerve and a core component of the parasympathetic nervous system, which regulates heart rate in response to signals of safety and interest.

Also known as cranial nerve X, it is primary nerve of the parasympathetic nervous system that reduces heart rate, blood pressure, sweating and stimulates digestion. It also controls some mouth movements.

Also known as antidiuretic hormone, vasopressin is a potent endogenous hormone which is responsible for regulating plasma osmolality and volume. It acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain to control circadian rhythm, thermoregulation, and adrenocorticotrophic hormone release (ACTH).

Vigor is characterized by high levels of energy and mental resilience while working, the willingness to invest effort in one’s work, and persistence also in the face of difficulties. Along with dedication and absorption, vigor is a component of engagement. Vigor is a positive affect state(...)

A cognitive process involved in the experience of anxiety that serves to maintain high levels of vigilance for personal danger. Compared with anxiety, worry is more closely associated with problem-solving (confidence, approach rather than avoidance of a problem and personal control of the(...)

A form of attitudinal, affective and behavioural prejudice toward immigrants and those perceived as foreign. Recent definitions of the term suggest that the fear of foreigners (a central element of xenophobia) is linked with ethnocentrism – the attitude that one’s own group or culture is(...)

Determined conviction for an idealistic cause that craves consensus and is intolerant of dissent. Zeal may take the form of value convictions, communal commitment, closed-minded certainty, angry jingoism, religious fervor, or political extremism.